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Ecclesiastes seven and look at verse number eight. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. The title for the sermon this morning is the end is better than the beginning. The end is better than the beginning. Now what we see there in Ecclesiastes seven, look, just look at verse number one very quickly. It says a good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death than the day of one's birth. So just the second part of that verse. The day of death is better than the day of one's birth. You say, how can that be? You know, the day of one's birth when a baby is born into the world, we're all rejoicing, we're all happy. And it's great joy, isn't it, when a baby's born. And, but when it comes to a day, the day of someone's death, we're in sorrow, we're mourning. You know, we miss the person, the loved one that has gone. I mean, we're excited that they're in the, with the Lord, in the Lord's presence, if they're a believer, of course, but it brings sorrow because we know we're gonna see them on this earth. And so how is death better than birth? Well, of course, like I said, it plays into the fact that the end is better than the beginning. Because, you know, one of the things that, you know, unfortunately as a pastor I've had to do is conduct a funeral service for a baby that lives less than 24 hours. And even though there's great joy in the birth of a baby, you know, when a young one dies, you know, essentially before their time, if you wanna look at it that way, it's much more tragic than someone who has lived a good 80, 90, 100 years of their life potentially. We can say, look, it's their time anyway. You know what I mean? It's great, you know, that they were on the earth. We're gonna miss them. But, you know, they lived a long life. They lived a full life. And so it's much less tragic when someone goes to the grave, obviously having lived a generous amount of life, right? And so the end is better than the beginning because, you know, if you're able to live 100 years or 80 years or 70 years, you can say, look, I've been able to accomplish many things. I've been able to experience many things. I've had many days to serve my Lord God. I've had, you know, a lot of opportunities in life. But if, you know, if you were to pass away early, you can say, well, I didn't really have the opportunities that others had. The end is better than the beginning. Now, before I expand on this, you know, one thing that we definitely wanna be better at at the end than the beginning is our faithfulness in our Christian living, all right? So, you know, it's wonderful that your, you know, when it comes to birth, we experience a second birth, the new birth, being born again the moment you believe on Christ Jesus. You know, you have a newness in spirit. You know, you're born of the spirit. And that's great. It's great that you're born of the spirit. It's great that you're saved, praise God. I mean, that's probably one of the greatest things that you can possibly have in life. But we understand that when you're born of the spirit, you're a babe, you're a babe in Christ, and you need time to mature and to grow. And that takes many, many years of your life. And, you know, if you can keep your finger there in Ecclesiastes, we are gonna come back to Ecclesiastes 7. Keep your finger there. But just come with me quickly to 2 Timothy, please. 2 Timothy 4. And I'm just gonna read to you a very familiar passage to you, but I want you to think about your Christian life and your Christian living. And I'm trying to tell you that the end is better than the beginning, all right? One thing, and Brother Michael's been mentioned a couple of times, one thing that I love about Brother Michael, he often says, the best is yet to come. Not that things haven't been great, you know, in the past, but the best is yet to come. And, you know, we ought to have that mindset when it comes to our Christian life, that we can still, look, God's given us today, and we can do great things for God today. And Lord William will give us tomorrow, and we'll be able to do some things for him tomorrow. We can't go back to yesterday and change it. It's done, it's settled, right? But hey, the best is yet to come because we can do some great things for God, and obviously the best thing, going to be home with him in heaven. But in 2 Timothy 4, verse number 6, Paul writes this to Timothy, he says, "'For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.'" He's talking about his close to death. He's coming to the end of his life, okay? He's ready to depart the earth. He's ready to be with the Lord. Now, what does it say? How has he gotten to the end of this? Verse number 7, he says, "'I have fought a good fight.'" I love this. "'I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.'" Isn't that great that Paul can say, "'I finished my course.' The course, the mission that God put me on in this life. I've gotten to the finish line. You know, I've accomplished the things that God wanted me to accomplish. And to get to that finish line, he had to fight. Requires to fight, right? It requires to run the race. It requires to keep the faith, to keep faithfulness in the Lord. Then he says in verse number 8, "'Henceforth.'" Henceforth is the concept of from this time forward. So because he's finished his course, because he's kept the faith, because he's fought the good fight, from this time forward, henceforth, it says here, "'There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing.'" And so he says, man, I finished, I got into the end. The end is better than the beginning. He goes, I know I'm going to receive a crown of righteousness from the Lord God, cause I got to the finish line, okay? And then he says, it's not just available to me. It's valuable to all that love his appearing. Now, what does it mean to love his appearing? You know, I chose some of the songs this morning because it speaks about the coming of Christ and being excited to see him. And we can maybe all say, man, I can't wait to see the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, but what is it that gives you a measure of how much you love his appearing? We've seen it. Are you fighting the good fight? You know, are you finishing the course? Are you keeping the faith? You see, when you love the Lord Christ and his coming, you're going to maintain those three areas of your life. You're going to get to the finish line and you're going to notice that the end is better than the beginning as the Lord comes and crowns you that crown of righteousness. That's going to be a great day when he rewards us for the work that we've done for him in our lives. And this is why the end is better than the beginning because we know that if we serve the Lord God in our lives, it's going to reward us. You know, in our maturity, in our growth, in our labor, in our work for him and his kingdom is going to reward us. He's going to give us that gold medal at the end of the race, right? But should we just get saved and praise God for salvation, but we do nothing for him and we don't chase his kingdom. We don't labor for him, but we just seek our own selfishness and our own life. You're not going to be really greatly rewarded at the end, are you? And so the end is better than the beginning. And so we ought to persevere to desire to get to the end. So, you know, the main focus I want to talk about today is obviously our faithfulness in Christian living. We want to be able to get to the finish line. We want to be able to get to our old age and say, man, I've continued running that race. I've gotten to the end. You know, if we know that our life is soon to depart for whatever reason, you know, that we can turn around and in contentment and satisfaction, we can say, boy, you know, I've remained faithful to the Lord all these years that he's given me. The end is better than the beginning. So come back with me to Ecclesiastes seven. Come back with me to Ecclesiastes chapter seven, please. I want to take some thoughts out of this passage here in verse number eight. It's better is the end of a thing than beginning thereof. I'll give you some other examples besides Christian living. You know, many times we might desire to start projects, maybe projects around the house. And you say, pastor Kevin, I've started five projects around the house. I'm renovating the kitchen. And you know, I'm a, I don't know, building a garden. And you know, we're doing all these different projects. All right, great. It's great that you started five things, but have you finished one? It's better to finish the project than to start five and then just give up, you know, like, it's better just to do one project and get to the end of that project than to start five projects and give up halfway or something like this, right? We all understand that. So next time, you know, cause husbands were like this with our wives. You know, the next time you say, honey, I've got an idea. I've got a project in mind that I, you know, if she's seen you do it five times and never got to the finish line, she's going to be like, I don't know. I'm not really behind you here. I don't think I can really support you or get behind you. But you know, if you've shown a track record of starting something, finishing something, starting something else, finishing something else, and you're like, honey, I'm saying something, I'm thinking about doing something else. She'll be like, all right, let's do it, right? She's seeing that characteristic in you that you're able to complete the projects that you start. And so, like I said, the end is better than beginning. What other examples? You know, you might start a course, you might decide to study and you're like, man, you know, I can't wait to start this course. I mean, great, but the end is better when you actually have the certificate to say, I've done it. I've, you know, I've achieved and I've reached a certain level of competency. And here's my qualification. Obviously the end is better than the beginning. You know, I think about my boys. I used to, not this year, but in the past, I've put them into like soccer or something like that, right? To play a season. And it's not necessarily their favorite sport. And sometimes halfway through the season, they're like that, I just, I don't know if I want to keep going. I'm not really enjoying it so much. And I'm like, just keep going, keep getting to the finish line, get to the end of the season, right? And the reason I'm doing that is not because I want to torture them. And, you know, hate the, you know, they can learn, obviously they can work on their fitness, obviously running around, they can learn teamwork, they can learn how to grow some thick skin when the opposing team's trying to say some nasty things at you. But more than anything, what you're really trying to teach them is finish it. You know, have a good character and get to the end of something you started. Don't be a quitter. You know, it doesn't matter if you end the season with every single game lost. The point is if you get to the end and you're still standing, you've shown good character about yourself. And so there are many things that we can talk about, maybe new resolutions. I'm not against new year's resolutions, but we start new year's resolutions and then we get to February and it's like, what happened? Right? That's actually better, right? If you say, well, I'm going to start a diet, I'm going to get to a point, I'm going to lose this many kilograms. And then, you know, you quit halfway. Well, I mean, it would have been better if you just got to the end and you actually got to the point where you, you know, got to a certain point of fitness or got to a certain point of losing weight again. And so, you know, this sermon, I'm going to talk primarily about your Christian life and get into the end of the race that God has put before you. But, you know, you can apply this in all areas of your life. So the end is better than the beginning. All right, look at it, because it says seven plus eight again. We have some more information about this. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. And it says this, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. So we see a difference as to what's going to get you to the finish line. You know, number one, what's going to get to the finish line is patience. Patient in spirit is better, right? Patience is the ability to endure difficulties. We talk about endurance. Many times, patience and endurance are almost seemingly the same concept, the same idea. You know, we want to be believers that endure. You know, if we're running a marathon, we want to be able to endure that marathon, meaning that there are going to be difficulties, but even during difficulties, we're going to keep pushing forward to get to that finish line. And that is really what patience develops in your life. Endurance, this is why you can get to the end. But sometimes people start things and they never get to the end, all right? And you know, one of the reasons that is highlighted here in this verse is that it is pride. Better to be patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. The proud will often start projects. The proud will often, look what I can do, look what I can accomplish. But very rarely do they get to the finish line because they don't have the patience. They don't have the endurance. They have pride, look at me go, but then they burn out halfway through and they never get the project done. And so pride is something that's going to stop you from enduring in Christian life. You know, the Bible says, I'll just quote it to you. Actually, if you can, because you're not far away, keep your finger in Ecclesiastes again, but come with me to Proverbs 16. You're not too far away. Come with me to Proverbs 16. And while you're turning to Proverbs 16, I'm going to read to you from James 1, verse three. James 1, verse three says, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. You know, in order for us to grow in patience and endurance, we need the trying, the testing of our faith. We need to go through some difficulties to be able to develop that endurance, to be able to develop that patience. And then it says in verse number four, but let patience have a perfect work that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing or lacking nothing. Patience is what allows us to get to that point that we become these perfect or well-rounded Christians in our lives, you know, that we can be patient, that we can endure difficulties, that we can finish the course, that we can fight the good faith, that we can, what's the last one? Keep the faith. Did I say that already? I can't remember. But all those three things that Paul had mentioned about getting to the end, it's patience that's gonna get us to that finish line. And you're there in Proverbs 16. Look at Proverbs 16, verse number 18. You guys know this verse. Pride goeth before destruction, and in haughty spirits before are full, okay? What's going to destroy your life? What's gonna cause you to fall in your Christian life? Pride. Pride guarantees fall. Pride guarantees destruction. The haughty spirit, again haughty, it's been lifted up. The idea of haughtyness is someone that's lifted up. Proud, proud in themselves. This is what creates destruction and fall in life. This is what stops you from fulfilling the goals that you wanna accomplish, right? All the things that I mentioned earlier. Your New Year's resolution, pride can be something that gets in the way of you getting to the end of it. You know, when it comes to being a pastor, and I hope, you know, I hope one day I can ordain a man to be a pastor. But one of the things that a pastor must not be, according to 1 Timothy 3.6, it says, not a novice, not a novice. What's a novice? Novice means new, someone that's new to the faithful, someone that's young in the faithful, someone that is a babe in Christ. You know, I've seen many babes in Christ be very zealous for the Lord, very on fire. It's like, man, I just wanna get in the ministry, and I'm just better than all the other pastors, and I know more, and I can correct other churches, and I'm gonna be the right pastor, and I'm always gonna be right. And sometimes that is obviously pride, pride in the heart of a babe. That's why it says not a novice, and it says, less being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. So you're being lifted up in pride. Pastors that are full of pride, they're gonna fall, and they're gonna fall into the condemnation of the devil. The damnation of the devil, what does that mean? Remember when the devil or Lucifer said about himself that I will be like the most high, and then he was taken down a notch, and he was taken down, destroyed, well, not completely destroyed, but the Bible says that his end will be hell. He will end up in hell. He wanted to be lifted up like God, and many times, prideful people lift themselves up above man or even to the standard of God, and look at me go, and I'm perfect, and I'm always right, and these people often fall and destroy themselves in the ministry. So pride, pride is definitely something that's going to stop you from achieving the end goal because pride will cause you to fall. You're gonna get off the racetrack, and you're not gonna be able to complete the tasks that God had for you in your life. Can you come back with me to Ecclesiastes, please? Ecclesiastes seven, Ecclesiastes seven. Some other things that we learn about getting to the end, to the finish line. Ecclesiastes seven, verse number nine, it says, be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry for anger resteth in the bosom of bulls. So be not hasty in thy spirit. Hasty is essentially to be in a rush, right? Oh man, I've got the finish line. I just got to get to the end of it, and that's it. But I'm just gonna go. I'm not gonna consider the cost of Christian living. I'm not going to think about the endurance that I need, the patience that I need. Now, obviously when it comes to contrary, like what is opposite to patience? You'd say someone that is hasty, someone that's in a rush. That's not someone that is a patient. And so, hastiness is someone that will often fail in their goals of getting to the finish line. Because again, let's start some new projects. In Russia, I just want to get this done. I want to get that done, I want to get this done. Yeah, but have you thought about how to get to the end though? Have you got steps in place to get to the end, or are you just excited about getting to the start? You know, one thing that I observed, I worked, you know, I keep talking about it, I worked in a business and there were many people that sought success and achievements and career paths and development, and they were having their eyes on it, constantly trying to get somewhere high in their careers. And I came to realise that there are kind of two types of people, and maybe three types, that there's a sluggard, but let's, don't worry about the sluggard right now, but there are two types of people that often get things done or at least have ambition to get things done, okay? There are two types of people. Number one, it's people that are driven to succeed, okay? I want to, I just want to have a name for myself. I want to be successful. They're often quite ambitious people, but then there's a different type of person, and this is kind of where I sit. It's not that I'm, I'm not driven to succeed. I'm just driven not to fail. I don't know if that makes sense. I'm just driven not to fall, all right? I do not want to disappoint or let down New Life Baptist Church, all right? Like I'm not thinking, oh man, I want New Life Baptist Church to be the biggest new IFB church, or the biggest IFB, or the biggest Baptist Church in Australia. That's not really my goal. I just don't want the church to fail. You know, I'm not driven that, you know, oh man, my kids have to be doctors and lawyers, and you know, have these, you know, be known by their careers or, you know, the support of their legacy or something like that. I'm just driven not to fail my family. You know, I want to make sure my family have everything they need. And you know, when you're driven not to fail, you also end up succeeding in many areas of life because you put a lot of work into not letting people down. And you know, the hasty though, the person that is hasty, they're more driven to succeed, but when you're driven to succeed, you fail more. But you can also, you also might have more successes, but you also have more failings. If you're driven not to fail, you have less successes, but you'll have very few failings. Okay, and so, because it's better to get to the end of it, right, it's better to finish something that you started than to, you know, fail, you know, after a period of time, whatever it is, or to fall after a period of time, it's better to get to the end of it. And hasteness often will cause someone to be driven to succeed, but in that pursuit of success, they have a lot of failings, a lot of falls. And I've seen pastors be driven to succeed in their church, to be the biggest church, the greatest church, and then they fail in their family. Their family falls apart, they get divorced, and you know, the kids hate the church, and the kids hate the Lord, and these things happen because they're driven to succeed, but they haven't thought about getting to the finish line, even with their own families. So, hasteness is something that's going to prevent you from getting to the end. What else? Hasteness in the spirit to be angry, okay? Because when difficulties come, challenges come, you know, it can be disappointing, you know, as you're riding that race, and you're trying to get to the end, and you think, man, I'm going to get to the end by the end of the year. But then it takes, you realize, oh man, there's been many difficulties and challenges. We're not going to be able to get to the end this year. It's going to take another year, potentially, to get to the end of the finish line. And because of that, that can create anger in us. And when you get angry, you know, you lose the, the love, the motivation, and it's very easy to just quit, and that's it, I don't care, and let the cookie crumble where it falls, whatever it is, and I just, whatever, I'm out, and I'm not, I don't care what happens. Anger is the third thing here that is mentioned that will cause you to stop getting to the finish line. And the last thing it says, therefore anger rests up in the bosom of fools. Foolishness, lack of wisdom, lack of knowledge, foolishness. And when I talk about wisdom, we're talking about the wisdom that comes from God, the knowledge that comes from God. And of course, in order for you to have wisdom and knowledge, the Bible says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. People that lack a fear of God will not have the wisdom that comes from God and knowledge that comes from God. And the Bible refers to them as fools, because you make foolish decisions. You know, instead of getting to that, you think like, you know, instead of having wise, solid, you know, steps to achieve the end goal, foolishness will drive you to make all kinds of unnecessary mistakes that can get you completely sidetracked from the goal that you initially had set in mind. And so foolishness is another thing that'll prevent you from getting to the finish line. Look at verse number 10, another one. Say not thou, so don't say this, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? What is that? God is saying, look, don't say these words. Say, man, the sixties were better. The seventies were better. The eighties were better than nineties. The two thousands were better than 2025. The 2010s were better. 2020 hasn't been great with the COVID and all that. But anyway, you know, you know, to have that view and you know, many times we think like that, because we think, I think back to the maybe eighties or the nineties when I was a kid or a teenager, there were great days, they were awesome, but they were mainly awesome because I didn't have many responsibilities. You could just do whatever you want, have fun and muck around and you know, you don't have a wife and kids and responsibilities that are hanging over your head. You're kind of free to do whatever you like. And so you have that perception that the eighties were better or something like that. Oh, God's saying, don't say that. Okay, say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? For thou does not inquire wisely concerning this. It's not wise to dwell in the past. It's not wise to think it was better back then. You know, sometimes with child rearing, you know, it's great to have little kids and little kids love mum and dad. They want to spend time with mum and dad. And when they get a bit older, they don't want to spend time with mum and dad that much. And they become teenagers and then they're adults and they have their own life. And sometimes it's easy to say, well, it was just better when they were young because you know, they loved us unconditionally and they wanted to be with us and our teenage years. No, actually, you know, it's better as they get older because they develop their personalities. You know, you start to see who they are, you know, how they think and how they interact. And you can have the adult conversations with your children and you can get into deeper things. And so things ought to get better because there's a greater variety and experience that you can have as your kids get older. And yeah, there are challenges. There's always challenges, there's always trials. That's why we need patience, that's why we need endurance. Okay, but the end is better. For me, it's wonderful when the kids were born into our lives, but I'm gonna be really, probably mostly satisfied and happy when I see my kids do well themselves. They can stand on their own two feet and they get married and they have a pathway for life for themselves and they love the Lord themselves and they win souls themselves. Those kinds of things are what's gonna give me the greatest joy than just a child being born into the family. And so, you know, we also have this idea, it was better back then. Now look, it was great back then, right? My 80s and my 90s were great, but God's given me the 2nd of February, 2025 to make this day great. And Lord William is gonna give me tomorrow to make, ah, it's 2025, you know, it's all, you know, the antichrist is about to, you know, or about to be beheaded or something like this and let's hide and hide ourselves. And it was better back before. It's like, you know, what does the Bible say? Today's the day that the Lord hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in it. Today's the day that the Lord hath made. And if you live tomorrow, that day is the day that the Lord has made. You ought to rejoice in it. Say thank you, Lord. I can't go back to the, you know, the 80s or the 90s or whatever it is, whatever your nostalgic time is, right? It's done. I'd be happy about it. You know, think back on the nice memories you have, but boy, you got so much to do today. You got to, you're able to serve your family today. You're able to serve new life back this church today. You're able to serve the Lord today. You can't add to yesterday, but you can definitely add to today. And so when you have that mindset, oh, it was better back then, you're not going to get to the finish line because it's misery and woe and danger and problems. And it's just going to drag you down. Oh, it was just better back then. And why was it better back then? It's like, don't worry about it. God's given you the 2nd of February, 2025. And you started well to be in the house of the Lord at the beginning of your day. And that's a great start to your day. It's a great start to the month. All right. So these are the enemies, according to Ecclesiastes 7, these are the enemies that will fight against you in succeeding and getting to the finish line. Those things were pride, hastiness, anger, foolishness, and dwelling in the past. Those things are going to stop you. You might have one of those things in your life. You might have all of those things in your life, whatever it is, but I'm telling you, if you have these elements in your life, it's going to stop you from finishing that race. Okay, it's going to stop you from being faithful to the Lord until the last day. So come with me now to Luke 14. We can move away from Ecclesiastes. Come with me to Luke 14, please. Luke 14. Now I want to give you a warning this morning. All right, a warning. And this is a warning that I want to give to everybody that is newer in the faith. I mean, it's a warning to everybody, but especially people that are newer to the faith, people that are novices or people that are babes, people that are young in the Lord. There's nothing wrong with that in of itself, right? We've got to start somewhere and we've got to mature and grow from that point. There's nothing wrong with being young in the faith, but there is a warning that we need to heed to. In Luke 14, 25, Luke 14, 25, it says, And there went great multitudes with him, and he turned and said unto them, so you got all these people excited about Jesus, right? Great multitudes. They're following Jesus. He turns around and says these words. If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. What is that teaching? Is that teaching how we get saved? Is it saying you have to despise your family in order for you to be saved? No, he's talking about discipleship, okay? Now I know these are very hard words, but let's first of all start with the context of where this is laid. This is when Christ was walking the earth and we know his ministry was about three years long or three years short, we could say that. Not a very long ministry that he had on the earth. From the time that he was baptized to the time that he died on the cross, okay? About three years, most people would agree. And if we continue, I want to show you what it says, because, you know, let's just keep going. Let's keep going there, verse number 27. And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. So bearing your cross is knowing that you're gonna have challenges and difficulties. You've got to carry those things as you walk, you know, in the Lord, all right? We have to endure these things because if you can't bear your own cross, you can't carry your own cross, you're gonna give up and fail, you cannot be a disciple of Jesus. Let's keep going there, verse number 28. For which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? So you're gonna start a project? You're gonna build a tower? You've got to count the cost. You don't just rush into building something, you don't just rush in to start a project. You say, do I have sufficient resources? Do I have what I need to get to the finish line? Look at verse number 29. Lest happily, after he have laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. You see, when you're lacking endurance and faithfulness, when you can't get to the finish line, people are gonna mock you. People are gonna laugh at you. Men, we laugh at ourselves, because we all know we start projects in the home and we don't get them done. So we kind of laugh about it, right? We kind of mock at each other, all right? I mean, it's not mock in the sense we're trying to destroy each other's testimonies. We just understand this is a weakness that men many times can have. But nonetheless, you start a project and you just give up so quickly, you haven't canceled the cost, you're not ready to bear the burden, you're not able to carry the cross. You know, it's people will laugh at you, people will mock at you, because you're not able to complete what you started. All right? And so as these multitudes are following after Christ, and he's got three years, he's essentially telling these guys, look, I'm only here for three years. Are you ready to give up on your family for now? All right? Because it's three years. Are you gonna put Jesus Christ first, you know, and walk after him? We know that Christ did not have a place to rest his head. He would go from place to place, from town to town, from city to city. And sometimes if it worked out, you are able to see your family again. Like Peter's a perfect example. When they're traveling, they stop by Peter's house, and Jesus is able to heal his mother-in-law. All right? Sometimes they're able to see their families again on their journey. But while they're walking this earth and being a disciple, Jesus saying, look, you've got to give up on your family plans, your family relationships, you know, your family gatherings. If you want to come and be part of this three-year mission with me, you've got to give all of that up, okay? And serve him. And you've got to be able to count the costs. I mean, Jesus is looking at the multitudes following him. It's like, I know that you're not all gonna stay. I know you're not all gonna get to the end of these three years. In fact, even those that got at the end of the three years, when Christ was arrested, they scattered. And then they were, you know, brought back after Christ resurrected from the dead. Or I'm telling you, brethren, of course, salvation is easy. Salvation is free. Salvation doesn't cost you anything. It costs Jesus Christ his blood and his sacrifice and his death, okay? But being a disciple, living after him, furthering his kingdom, serving the Lord, these things are difficult. And because it's difficult, brethren, you have to be able to endure. You need the patience. You need to get to the finish line. It's, you're running a race. Races aren't easy, are they? You know, getting to the finish line, like running one kilometer, it's easy to start. The first few steps, that's easy, but getting to the end of it, exhaustion, thirsty, sweating, you know, a heat stroke. It requires a lot of effort to get to the end of the finish line. And so we have a warning here that, man, there are people that can't finish. There are people that start and won't finish. And when you don't finish, it's not that you're not saved. When you just don't finish, people will begin to mock you, all right? Come with me to another passage. Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine. It's kind of the same teaching, okay? But Luke 9, 57, I just want to give you a warning, all right? Luke 9, 57, you've got to be able to count the costs. You've got to be able to understand what it takes to get to the finish line. You need to be able to grow and mature. You need to want to be able to finish the race rather than just starting it only. But Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine, verse number 57. Luke 9, 57 says, and it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee with whatsoever thou goest. Lord, wherever you go, I'm coming with you. I mean, that's zeal. That's good love. I can see it. I can see his heart's desire is to the Lord Jesus Christ. But then Jesus Christ says this in verse 58. And Jesus said unto him, boxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man have not where to lay his head. He goes, look, are you ready to not sleep? Well, not to sleep comfortably. Are you ready to not really have a roof over your head? Again, the context, direct context, three years, okay? This isn't the standard that you ought to live all your life, okay? Even with the hardship that Christ had was just for that three year period, because we know that he would have sent back to the father once he completed his mission. But then it says here, verse number 59. And he said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Now, if this man's father just died and the funeral's tomorrow, I don't think that's the big, I don't think that's the issue, right? The funeral's tomorrow, Lord, I'm just gonna bury my father. I don't think that's the issue. Jesus Christ says in verse number 60. Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. You know, this man was waiting for his father to pass away. Right, maybe his father's of an older age. Maybe he's got some type of sickness. And they're saying, look, he probably doesn't have a lot left to live. And so it's like, Jesus, let me just finish with my father. Let me bury him and then I'll come and follow after you. Well, I don't know. What if his father lives another three years? The ministry of Christ is over. He wouldn't be able to get on the program and go with the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Christ says these hard words, let the dead bury the dead. Look at verse number 61. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go, bid them farewell, which are at my home at my house. I don't know where his home or his house is. Maybe it's far away. Maybe it's going to take a few days journey to get there and a few days back to Jesus Christ, okay. And then it says here, verse number 62, and Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Now, why is this not about salvation? No man having put his hand to the plow work. Okay, salvation is not works. This is discipleship. This is following Jesus Christ in your life. This is serving him with your life. I don't know how far that man's house was. If he was just around the corner, probably no big deal, right? He could just go and that didn't have to ask Jesus. If it was me and my wife just lived around the corner, just said, honey, I'm going for a while. I'll be back in three years. Hopefully I'll come and see you. I'll make sure you're provided for though. I'll make sure I'll send you funds and take care of your needs while I'm away. But this man probably had to travel somewhere. And by the time he went a few days journey one way and a few days journey back, Jesus was constantly on the move. He's like, okay, I'm ready to serve Jesus. Oh, he's gone. He's left. Where? We don't know. All right. And so, you know, if you're going to start the work, if you're going to get fired up and put your hands to the plow, it's not time to look back. You want to be able to finish the plowing. You want to be able to finish the course. You want to be able to finish the harvest when you begin to plow. And so this is a challenge that Jesus Christ gives to people that seek to follow after him. Can you come with me to another passage? 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9, please. 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9. You know, I don't get angry or I don't get like, I don't think poorly of people that struggle in the faith. I don't think like that. I don't think that if someone's stopped running the race or has given up on serving the Lord. I know it's hard, but I know it's really tough. Okay, your life's going to be tested in so many different ways. And if you seek to serve the Lord, you're going to have the enemy. You're going to have the devil on your back. You're going to be a target. Okay, and he's going to try to disrupt you as much as possible, which is why you need the endurance, why you need the patience, why you need the Lord. Like, I don't think, oh, you're a loser, you know. Like we had a look on Wednesday, right, when John Mark quit on the first missionary journey and Barnabas is like, let's take him and Paul's like, no, like an express to you guys, I'm probably like more like Barnabas. Let's give him another chance. Let's try to pick him up on his feet. Let's see if he's able to do something great for God. And, you know, I don't look at life like that. I know that Christians, and because I've seen it my whole life, I've seen Christians just crumble under the pressure of serving the Lord. You know, difficulties come in and it's like, Lord, I'm trying to serve you. I'm trying to get to the finish line. Why did you send me a difficulty? It's like, well, I sent it for the trying of your faith that you may be perfect and tired, wanting nothing. So you can mature and you can grow and you can do greater things for me. And quite often, sometimes the difficulties that God puts in our lives, we give up, we quit. You know, again, pride or foolishness or anger or a hastiness, these things can stop us from getting to the finish line. 1 Corinthians 9, 24. 1 Corinthians 9, 24. Think about this passage on a regular basis, by the way, brethren. Okay, if you wanna know one of the passages that Pastor Kevin thinks about and meditates on on a regular basis, this is one of them. 1 Corinthians 9, 24. It says here, no ye not, that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that ye may obtain. All right, so Paul is teaching this, like, hey, get on the racetrack, but I want you to get to the finish line. I want you to win the prize, right? I want you to obtain that prize. Verse number 25. And every man that striver for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. So we learn another quality you need to have together with your patients. It's temperance, self-control. Okay, temperance, self-control. Verse number 26. He goes, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. So he goes, look, I'm running and I'm sweating, I'm going to finish. He goes, I'm fighting, but I'm not just beating the air. My labor, my struggle, my fight for the faith is profitable, right? It's beneficial. We're accomplishing something. We're not just punching the air. Yeah, it's not just vain. But then this is verse number 27. This is what I always think about brethren, okay? Verse number 27. But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away. Paul says, man, I work, you know, in order to run the race, I've got to put my body under subjection. It's going to take work and effort and pain and suffering. And I'm willing to keep my body subject to the race. Okay, I'm not, oh, it's too hard. That's it, I quit. Because it says this, his concern is after I done preaching to others, that he will become a cast away. I preach all these things, guys, persevere, endure, run the race. And then tomorrow, where's Pastor Kevin? Oh, he quit. He's no longer the pastor, all right? What's he doing with his life now? I don't know. He's always at the pub or something, right? What happened to him? It's like, it's a cast away. This happens to pastors sometimes. I've seen it in my own life. It's really sad when it happens. Pastors preach wonderful great messages and they ought to be wonderful and great messages because it should be coming from God's Word and God's Word is always wonderful and amazing. He can always learn great things, even from a novice and even from a potential cast away, he can still learn great things. But it's so sad when a pastor preaches to his church and then himself becomes the cast away. You know, the warnings that the pastor gives his church is the, you know, he doesn't heed his own warnings. And so this is something that I meditate upon. I don't want to be a cast away. Remember, I'm not driven to succeed. I'm just driven not to fail. It's just, I don't know, it's just who I am. It's just part of my personality or something like that, right? I just don't want to fail. I just don't want to fall. I just don't want to be a cast away, all right? I don't have to be the greatest Christian. I don't have to win all the prizes. You know, I just don't want to fail. I just don't want to fail my Lord. I just want to fail my family. I just don't want to fail my church. That's often what keeps me endured with the endurance and the patience that keeps me moving for the Lord. Look, I've got many references here. Come with me to Matthew 5. I'm just trying to give you warnings. I don't want you to be a cast away. I don't want to be a cast away, all right? We can learn wonderful doctrines, but we don't endure. We don't, you know, work hard. We don't have the patience and we allow the other things to infiltrate our lives. We're not going to get to the end, brethren. Matthew 5, 13, this is really scary. Matthew 5, 13, this is about believers. Matthew 5, 13. Matthew 5, 13 says, ye are the salt of the earth. I like that. We are to be salty. We're to be, you know, you put salt in your mouth and it's, oh, salt on its own is not the greatest. But it's noticeable, right? Salt is supposed to be noticeable. You add salt to a nice steak and it should enhance the flavor. That should be us. We should be able to enhance Christianity. You know, make it appealing for others and, you know, you rub salt on a wound and it stings, but it heals, doesn't it? It's supposed to heal the wound. It's supposed to, you know, destroy bacteria. That's how we should be, you know, we destroy false doctrines and, you know, we are sometimes, you know, preaching hard and preaching the truth of the Bible can a little bit be offensive, a little bit, you know, like I said, when you rub salt on a wound, it can be painful sometimes. But should you allow it to do its work, it's going to bring fruit into your life. It's going to bring healing into your life. And we ought to be the salt of the earth. But then it says this in verse number 13. But if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? If you have a piece of salt in your life, that's not salty. How are you going to make it salty again? It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. Boy, you know, I hope you're salty. I hope you remain salty, you know, and I hope you remain in this life of faithfulness towards your Lord God, but the warning is salt can lose its savor. And when you lose your savor for the Lord, when you're no longer living the life that he has put before you, when you're running the race, you lose your saltiness. The Bible says you're good for nothing. Again, praise God, going to heaven. Okay, but your ability to further his kingdom, your ability to earn the great rewards in heaven, your ability to finish the race is going to be over. Okay, you're going to lose your saltiness. You're not going to be able to regain the saltiness. That's the point. But if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? A rhetorical question, meaning it cannot be salted once again. Now, there are Christians that have been saved, maybe even faithfully attending church, and then they go through some hardship, they get a bit upset with the Lord for whatever reason, or upset with the pastor, upset with the church, and they're gone. And you hope that they return, but sometimes they're just always going to be gone. And you know, say, what happened? They've lost their savor. You know, they've lost the saltiness and they're good for nothing. And so, they're not good for his kingdom. Okay, they're not going to be able to further his kingdom and do great works for him. Come with me to John 15. This is a teaching of the Bible. I know it's a bit controversial. It's not probably what we like to hear. But I feel like I need to warn you, because I want you to kind of at least have my motivation. I don't want to fail. I don't want to lose my savor. I don't want to be trodden under the foot of men. I don't want to be good for nothing. I don't want to be a castaway, you know. And if I have that mentality, I'm going to get to the finish line. Again, I might not be the most successful. I might not be the fastest runner, but I'll get to the finish line. All right, and better is the end of the beginning. Matthew 5, 13, please. No, sorry, John 16. Did I tell you to go to John 16? Oh yeah, John 15, sorry. All right, John 15, verse 1. John 15, verse 1, you all know this passage. Christ says, I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purges of it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now what is the fruit of the righteous? Souls, right? Hear that wind of souls is wise. The fruit of righteous is the tree of life. Hear that wind of souls is wise. You know, we ought to be fruitful for the Lord and preach the gospel and see people call upon the Lord and trust in Him by faith. And so fruitfulness is something that God wants from us, but we can only be fruitful, brethren, if we abide in the vine. All right, it says here in verse number 3, Now ye are clean from the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye accept ye abide in me. I shall keep going, verse number 5, I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bring forth much fruit, but without me ye can do nothing. How many times has Christ said this? Without Christ, we can do nothing. Remember the salt that is good for nothing, okay? Verse number 6, if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. See, Christ wants us to be branches that are fruitful, and He will labor with us, He's a husband man, He's the gardener, He's working in us, but the only way, brethren, that we're going to be able to produce fruit for the Lord is to abide in Christ, to love Him, to serve Him, to keep His commandments, to keep His ways in our life. God guarantees us fruits, you know, and if we bear no fruit, well, God's going to have some patience with us, He's going to labor and toil with us, but the truth is that if a branch just refuses to bring full fruits, if the branch refuses to do the task that it's been given to do, then it'll be taken and burnt in the fire, cast out. Verse number 7, if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done to you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. See, bringing full fruit is discipleship. It's not salvation, it's discipleship. But, you know, in order for us to get to that finish line, serve the Lord, you know, we need to bear fruit. How do we bear fruit? Be in Christ Jesus. And if we don't bear fruit, brethren, we become a castaway, a branch. It's not about hellfire, believers aren't going to get a hellfire, but the illustration is there, right? If you have a tree and it's not growing, it's kind of dead, you're going to take it, you're going to light it on fire and destroy it, because it's not bringing forth what you need it to bring forth. And so this is a warning of the Bible. You know, praise God for salvation. It's full and free. Have joy in your salvation, brethren. But you need to understand that now that you're saved, God wants you on the racetrack. God wants you to get to the end because the end is better than the beginning. All right. Now, let's go to another passage. Come with me, please, to Jeremiah 8. Come with me to Jeremiah 8. This morning is warning. I want to warn the believers. I don't want you to ever get to a point where you're good for nothing. I don't want you to ever get to the point where you're burnt like a branch that is withered. I don't want you to be a castaway. I don't want to be a castaway. All right, let's go to one more warning here in Jeremiah chapter 8, Jeremiah chapter 8. Jeremiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. Okay, and God was given Judah one last chance through Jeremiah to get right with the Lord. And some of you guys are familiar with the nation being referred to as reprobate silver because that generation had gone so far from the Lord, you know, and God rejected them. He rejected them by allowing the Babylonian captivity, right, allowing the Babylonians to come and take them away and they were in captivity for 70 years, you know, and thank God, you know, after a new generation will be born, that God will allow that new generation that loved him, that wanted to serve him, that wanted to have the Lord God as their God once again. He would allow them to return back to the land. But what's really interesting, what's really sad, you know, what I'm preaching about today, Brevin, is essentially backsliding. We often refer to that term as backsliding. The backslidden Christian, the one who's no longer on the race or the one who's running the race backward, right? And, you know, this teaching comes from Jeremiah. Look at Jeremiah 8 and verse number 4. And this is super scary. This is super scary. Jeremiah 8 verse number 4. So God tells Jeremiah, can you teach this to the nation of Judah? You know, shall they fall and not arise? Because when you fall, don't you pick yourself back up, right? Now here's the thing about Judah. They had fallen and stayed fallen. Okay? Now look, Brevin, you know, in our race, as we serve the Lord, as we get to the finish line, sometimes you're going to fall. You're running a marathon, sometimes you're going to trip and you're going to fall. All right? But when you fall, what are you supposed to do? You get back up, right? All right, I've got to get back on the race, all right? And get back on. But the worst thing you can do is fall and go, oh, that's it, I'm done. I'm, you know, no, run. Oh, but I fell and I broke my ankle. Run with a broken ankle. Okay, you can still, you can get, you know, just get a, what do you call them? A crutch. And just get to the finish line with a crutch. All right, better is the end. Get to the end line, okay? I know that sometimes life can throw all kinds of curveballs at you. You know, if you've only got two arms left in the race, well, just drag yourself to the finish line. Do what you need to do to get to the end. Just pick yourself up and keep moving forward. But sometimes people fall and they stay fallen. Or it says, shall they turn away and not return? You know, if you leave the house, don't you come back to the house afterwards? Like, you don't just stay away forever. You know, you come back and, you know, that's the normal reaction of life. That's how a child learns to walk, right? They start standing up and they fall. And mums are like, oh, I was falling. Just let them fall. They got to get back up. They got to learn. They got to persevere. They got to learn endurance. They got to learn patience. They got to work through the challenges. And every time a little baby falls, they pick themselves up and eventually they're walking. And then they're running. And then you wish they didn't walk, all right? But you know, the idea there is that we pick yourself up. Babies know this. Little babies know this information. But Judah did not know this. Verse number five. Why then is this people of Jerusalem slid them back by a perpetual backsliding? Boy, I know what backsliding is. I've backslidden in my life over the years in many different ways. But when you backslide or you fall, you pick yourself up and get back on the race. Say, Lord, put me back on the race. But there is a point where you can just stay fallen and you can get into this position of perpetual backsliding. Meaning the rest of your life, you're just backsliding. You never get back on. You know, and the illustration that I think about is kind of like, you know, a slippery slide. You know, you can sit on the slippery slide and then, you know, it's all the way down. You know, some kind of water slide, right? You sit on that slide and you shouldn't be there. You shouldn't be considering that. And you get to a point when you reach a certain angle and you're just, boom, you don't stop. You just get to the end of the bottom, right? You get to the end of that slide. And that's perpetual sliding. You can't stop. That's one of the scariest things about a Christian is backsliding is a bad thing, but pick yourself up when you do. Pick yourself up when you fall, all right? When you've gotten away from the Lord for a while, get back on the track as soon as possible because there is a condition of perpetual backsliding, okay? This is a salt that's lost its savor. This is a branch that is good for nothing to be destroyed and burnt by fire. It says in verse number five, with perpetual backsliding, they hold fast their seats. They refuse to return, refuse to return. Like God's given them a chance, return, return, they refuse. They have perpetual backslid. Verse number six, I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright. No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, what have I done? Everyone turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battle. Okay, when you get into that perpetual backsliding, it's like a horse that's, you know, you got a rider going into battle and once you're on that journey, once you're about to face the enemy, there's no stopping it. That horse is going to go all the way into the battle and destroy itself potentially. That's what perpetual backsliding does. You get on that horse, you go full steam ahead, and it leads your life to destruction. Okay, pride. You know, these things, foolishness, anger. There's righteous anger, we understand. I'm talking about the anger that comes from the flesh. These things can stop us. These things can lead us to a state of perpetual backsliding. You know, and Brevin, I'm not, look, we are all going to fall in our Christian life. We're all going to fail sometimes. You probably already have. Maybe you say, Pastor, I've done it five times. The book of Proverbs says that the righteous man fall of seven times and, as I go, and rise up again, thank you. God, a righteous man can fall seven times. All right. And I love that number seven, because you know, when we talk about forgiveness, Christ says you forgive your brother 70 times seven. Like we can just, your life is, you're going to fall in the race. But I want you to know that you got this, Pastor Kevin here loves you. When I say you fall, I don't hate you. I don't think you're a loser. I just think, get up. Right, like cheering from the grandstand. Get up, run the race, get to the finish line, because the end is better than the beginning. I've got to tend to my wounds. Just get on the race. Let Jesus tend to your wounds. Let Jesus tend to your broken ankle as you continue running for him. Right, this is so important, Brevin. We don't want to get to the point where we are castaways, that we destroy ourselves, that we fall into perpetual backsliding. Got to pick ourselves up. Every believer fails. Every believer falls. Your pastor has failed and fallen many, many times. But I'm still in the race. I still want to get to the finish line. I don't want to be a castaway. I don't want to fail. I don't want to be salt that's lost its savor. Okay, I might not be the most amazing Christian or the most amazing pastor, but at least in my life, I've shown some level of consistency and patience and endurance. That's what we need in our Christian life. Come with me to Galatians 6, please. Galatians 6. Galatians 6. Galatians 6. Let's read verse number 9. Galatians 6 verse number 9. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. God doesn't want us to faint. He doesn't want us to give up. You know, even in well-doing, it can be weariness. Living a godly life, serving Him, makes you tired. That's why you need the endurance. That's why you need the patience. But I want you to notice what leads up to verse number 9. Let's read verse number 7. It says here, Be not deceived. God is not mocked. But whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Brethren, if you sow apple seeds, you're going to reap the apple tree, right? If you sow, I don't know, give me some other orange seeds, right? You're going to reap the orange tree and the fruit that comes from that tree. So whatever you reap to, you're going to sow to, okay? That is just a universal law that you need to understand. Verse number 8. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. The flesh speaks of the part of us that is contrary to God, that sins against the Lord, that lusts after wickedness. We reap to the flesh. We give the flesh what it wants. You will, so if you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. You see, if we sow to the Spirit, okay, there's everlasting life, that's the finish line, brethren. We're going to reap. We're going to be, we saw earlier, rewarded, crown of righteousness, these kinds of things that we're going to be able to obtain in life everlasting. And then it says, and let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. You know, this is where weariness comes from when we reap, sorry, when we sow to the flesh. Okay, and look, your life, you're going to be sowing sometimes to the flesh, you're going to be, not that you should be, I'm not saying you should be, but that's just life, real life. But we want to make sure that we sow to the Spirit, the spiritual things, the new man that God has given us, the Holy Spirit of God, seeking after him, working toward him, you know, putting him first in our life rather than our own selfish desires. You know, if you reap to the Spirit, you're going to get to the finish line. If you reap to the flesh, you're going to get weary, and you might even faint. Okay, and so this is, again, I just want you to understand that, boy, you give the flesh all its desires, all its lust, all the sin that it wants to consume, you will fail, you will fall. It's a guaranteed fall that you're going to have in your life. Please come with me to one more passage, Hebrews please, Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. I'm talking about endurance this morning, I'm talking about patience this morning, I'm talking about getting to the finish line. I'm telling you the end is better than the beginning. And we need endurance. And you know, when you're struggling with endurance, when you're struggling with patience, when you're, when you feel like giving up, when you feel like you're weary, the Bible tells us this in Hebrews 12 verse number 3. It says, For consider him, that's Jesus, consider Jesus, that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. When you get weary and you start to faint and you want to give up, all right, the Bible tells us, look, consider Christ, look at Christ. Brethren, the end of the finish line is Jesus Christ. I'm going to love his appearing. I'm going to look forward to the time that I can lay my physical eyes on his physical face. You know, I shall know him, I shall know him by the print of the nails in his hands. You know, we need to consider Christ, the nails of his hands, what he endured. You know, how people hated him, how they crucified him, how he was despised and rejected of men. And yet Jesus Christ was able to still take on the greatest punishments that one can ever take and he endured. He rose from the dead and he lives forevermore at the right hand side of his Father. That's the standard. That's the champion, all right. That's the hero. I want to be like Christ. I want to get to the finish line and I'm going to endure and when I fall and when I get weary and I feel like giving up, I'm going to look at what Christ has done for me and I'm going to meet you Christ at the finish line. I'm going to show you that I can endure and I'm going to not rely on others. I'm not going to rely on my own personal strength. I'm going to be relying upon my focus on you. You're going to help me to get to the finish line in Christ. You know, Hebrews 12. Now let's go back a little bit. Look at Hebrews 12 verse 1. Let's get the whole context. We're foreseen, we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us all lay aside every weight. What I love about this reality is, you know Hebrews 11 is the chapter of, what do they call it, the Hall of Faith. The great men and great women that have gone before us and have done some great things in their faith. Some great works they've been able to accomplish some great things in life. And then we find out that there's a great cloud of witnesses. Those that we read about in Hebrews 11. Okay, we're on a race and those that are cheering for us, those that are in the grandstand cheering for us, you know, it's Noah and Abraham and David and Jacob and you know, all the great men, right? All the great men that we read about. The great ladies that we read about. Sarah and well, everyone that's gone before us and have gone to the finish line. You know, they're cheering us on in this race. This great cloud of witnesses. It says, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience. There it is again. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. And again, verse number two. Look in unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The finisher, right? The end is better than the beginning. The finisher of our faith. Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Let's just go to verse number five. This idea continues with the rest of the chapter. In verse number five it says here, and ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. This is important in our race. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint, nor give up, right? When thou art rebuked of Him. You know, the Lord in our lives will chasten us. He's going to rebuke us when we're not running the race properly, when we start to backslide, when we start to give up, when we seek our own sinful ways, the Lord will chastise us. The Lord will rebuke us. Sometimes when I preach, it rebukes you. I've had people say to me, pastor, was that about me? It's like, I don't know. God knows. The word of God knows you know. You know if it was about you, I don't know. I'm just trying to preach you God's word. You know, and if you've been slapped in the face this morning, it's the rebuke of the Lord, all right? And just accept it. You know, accept it. Endure, endure it, right? Don't faint when thou art rebuked of Him. Verse number six. For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. You know, if you're rebuked this morning, if you've been chastened by the Lord, you can say, man, I'm going for some tough times and I know it's the hand of the Lord upon me. You know, then you can look and say, well, the Lord loves me. For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. The Lord loves you. Verse number seven. If ye endure, chastening, endurance. You know, one reason God gives you chastening is to help you in patience, help you to learn endurance. You've got to endure the chastening. If ye endure, chastening, God dealeth you with sons, But what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? So we've all been chastened by the Lord. If you're a son of God, you've all been. You've all gone through this process. We needed a bit of correction, a bit of love and kindness in your life to get you back on your feet. Drop down to verse number 11. Now no chastening of the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. That's true. Whenever we've been chastened by the Lord, it's not a nice feeling. It's not the best feeling, all right? And you might, oh man, but remember endure. Okay, endure the chastening. Because it says here, nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. So our endurance is like an exercise. You know, the exercise is to bring forth some benefit in our life. When you experience the chastening of the Lord is to bring profit into your life. It's to teach endurance, to teach you patience, to bring you back on the race that is set before us. But you know that our sins and these weights that many times distract us from the race, they so easily beset us. They stop us from getting to the finish line. They cause us to want to give up in the race. But brethren, the end is better than the beginning. The end is better than the beginning. I want you to get to a point in life where you love the chastening of the Lord. I'll be honest with you, I love the chastening of the Lord. And at the same time, like Lord, just be merciful though. But I love it because it's always brought forth something better. But while you're being chastened, it is grievous. But we need to be slapped in the face sometimes. We need to go through a bit of pain. No pain, no gain. Isn't that the common saying? We need a bit of pain of the Lord. And we need to go through some tough times. We need the trying of our faith. And I want you to understand when these things happen, to endure, to not give up. Don't become weary. Heed the warnings. Don't be a castaway. Don't fall into perpetual backsliding. Don't be salt that's lost its savor. Don't be a branch that doesn't bring full fruits and is withered and destroyed. Don't be that kind of Christian. It happens to many. It happens to many. And you say, pastor, I am. I've fallen. I've fallen off the race. I'm not running how I should be running. Then what do you do? Pick yourself back up with the help of the Lord. Lord, I've got my broken ankle, but I need you as a crutch. I need you to help me to get to the finish line. You know, I want to set my eyes upon you. I'm going to look at how you endure the cross. That's going to be my standard. You're going to be my hero. You're going to be my champion. I'm going to run the race like you ran for me. All right, brethren, let's pray.